A Second Alice
by Daydreaming-Chocoholic
Summary: Alice wasn't the first to fall into Wonderland. plot/summery thing inside


DDC: This bit takes place on the day Alice first went to Wonderland.** I do not own Alice In Wonderland or anyone in it. But I DO, however, own this story. Yay me :) **

SUMMERY/PLOT: Alice was not the first to fall into Wonderland/Underland. Alice's grandmother, Mary Ann, had been there often before Alice's mother was even thought of. She went so offten that the longest time between visits was little over a week, and she and the hatter became very close to one another, refering to eachother 'my dear' constantly. (possibly a bit more than just friends?) Mary Ann always promised her Hatter to return as soon as she could, and she always did. Weather it was a day or a week, shecame back. It's the way things were, the way things should be. But one day, Mary didn't come back to him. Or the next day, or the day after, or the weeks following. But Hatter still waited. The vanishing cat has gone from good friend (like they were before Hatter met Ann) to a cruel annoyance. Hatterhasn't seen The March Hair or Door Mouse in far too long, but still he waits for his Ann. Until one day, at the first tea party he's been to in far too long, he sees a girl that looks awfully familiar...

A Second Alice

The Cheshire strolled up to the crooked hatter out of thin air, his grin perfectly in place. He loved this game he was about to play, even if the man didn't. "Hm...still sitting there? The Madman has been there since that girl left." he said, knowing full well the man could hear him, and taking a seat just out of the hatter's reach. "She's not coming, you know." "Hold your tongue." He said harshly. Though they used to talk at one another often, saying nothing but pure nonsense and laughing at the strangest of things, the cat's company hadn't been a welcome one in a long while.  
"Awe, I'm sorry, mad man, but the truth can't always be pleasant and nice, can it?" His grin seemed to get a bit wider as he said this, almost knowing what the hatter would say next. As he should, they've talked like this many times. But it still brought him joy to see his reactions, see his had-once-been friend writhe a bit. "Your lying, she'll come."  
"Me? A liar? Why, my dear Hatter, I neverlie! I'm neverstrait forward either,so then again maybe, just maybe, I **am** lying. Am I , hat man? Am I lying to you about your sweet little Mary Ann?"  
"I said keep shut! She'll come, she promised so!"  
"Oh, yes yes **YES**! that's right! She said she'd be back, didn't she? Said she'd return as soon as she could! not only that, but she gave you her WORD that she would. she promised! she promised! hahaha~ such a lovely little word, such an easy little lie! Now then, tell me, friend, just how long ago _was_that promise, hnm? Far longer in their world than in our's, Hatter, and it's been so long here, too. Just imagine how long there! Face it, SHE'S the liar, not I."  
"Don't you dare call her that, '_friend'_, or we'll have a bit of a problem." replied the mad man, his words dripping with menace.  
"Yes, yes, wouldn't want to anger the MAD hatter, now would I? hahaha!"  
"YOU'RE mad, Cat, not me. She's coming, and I can guarantee it."  
"Oh, I am mad, and never once denied it! And do you know WHY I'm this way, Hatter? Your questions! Oh those questions! The raven andthe writing desk, the bottle and the key, how the pen can match the sword and the fish will soar above the trees, those questions drove me simply MAD! Hehehahaha~! Ever think that's what happened to your Mary, Hatter? You asked her the same, perhaps she is simply as mad as I?"  
"Cat, you were far out of your mind since before the day you were thought up, and for you to try and blame me for such a thing is preposterous." he leaned in with a smirk "But there's no need to be jealous, CAT, just because Ann could answer my questions when you couldn't. Jealousy has made you cruel, old friend."  
For an instant, the cat did something he hadn't done in only Mad Hatter knows how long, he lost his smile. That insane smirk was replaced with the coldest of glares as the cat faded away, his hateful look the last thing to go.  
But the cat was right, Hatter admitted. It had been much to long. Maybe she just lost the way...Could she have...forgotten him? Or written it off as just a few delusional dreams and left? Ann wouldn't forget about him, he decided , that was impossible, simply undoable. Remembering where he was, the hatter's heart sank. Impossible? He lived in the impossible. BREATHED the impossible. The mad man saw it from the moment he woke up, and it stuck to him at night and followed him to his dreams. Impossible was entirely possible.  
Then...maybe...she had grown tired of him and his pointless nonsense? He ached at that idea, so he quickly banished it from his mind. But he knew it would come back eventually. It always had...  
No. She would come. Ann had given him her word, and he held onto it as if his heart would stop beating if he let go for an instant. Even now, if he closed his eyes, the hatter knew he would see her in his memory, just the same as the last time he had seen her all those years ago.

* * *

"Oh, clever aren't you?" Mad Hatter had kidded while twirling his hat in his hands. She had been able to solve every one of his puzzles in just a few minutes, and the last one had taken only a moment.  
"Or perhaps," the young woman with golden hair would say teasingly, "your questions are not as mad as I have been lead to believe?" "Or perhaps," he had said, putting the over-sized hat with the ribbon that was much too long for it on her head. "your simply madder than my questions?"  
She had laughed at that. That wonderful sound like a tinkling silver bell. She always had when he gave her his hat. Every once in a while when he did this, the door mouse would fall out of it's depths and land atop her head. That would only make her laugh again, a sound he loved dearly.  
"Well, since the lady is so clever, another question?"  
"Hm...no, I think not."  
"Alright.." His face fell a little at her answer. He liked these talks with his Mary Ann. She was the only person, human, animal, or otherwise, that he could talk to like this. Surly she didn't have to leave again so soon?  
"Don't be so down, Hatter." She said with a smile that was purely and souly hers, "It's just I have a question for YOU."  
"Oh?" No one had ever asked HIM a question before, then again, no one had given him answers before. "Alright, my dear lady, what is your question?" It couldn't be too terribly hard, after all. If his Mary Ann could answer his questions, then surly her Mad Hatter could answer hers. "Why is a raven like writing desk?" ...Or surly not.  
"Beg your pardon, my dear?"  
"Why is a raven," she repeated, twirling the hat like he had been before putting back on her head. "Like a writing desk?"  
He took a moment to think...  
And then he took another...  
Then one more after that...  
And just a moment more...  
"Oh, Hatter, I thought this one would be simple for one such as yourself," she said with a giggle.  
"Hm..." How was a bird like a desk? Was this like 'the bottle and the key' riddle he had asked? No no no, not close. This question was much harder, yet much more simple, which is why it was difficult, just because of it's sheer simplicity it was surprisingly difficult.  
It was a simply difficult question.  
"I think I must concede to you, my dear. After countless years being the nonsensical mastermind of wonderland, I've been bested by a green eyed girl in a white dress." He had winked at her. "Congratulations."  
"Oh no you don't!" she laughed. "I'll get an answer from you someday, Hatter, until then you can't ask me anymore."  
"Oh, surly you jest! I cannot ask my dear lady anymore mind twisting riddles that would leave anyone else utterly mad? You break my heart, Ann, you break it in two." He had been half-joking, but it had still worried him. Did that mean they would not go on these walks through Wonderland anymore, talking of riddles or silliness and thinking of the things that could not be thought?  
But Mary Ann knew he was kidding. she always did.  
"I never said that, did I, my dear madman? I only said until you can answer my question, I'm not sure it would be fair to keep asking answers of me." She hadn't meant that, not really. And Mad Hatter knew it. At the same time she still wanted an answer, one he didn't have.  
"Then I fear there will be no more questions to be asked, how could I possibly answer such a thing?  
"The same way I had done with yours."  
"And just how would that be, my dear Mary Ann?  
"My dear madman, you don't know?"  
"Will you take pity and humor a crooked old hatter?"  
She grinned. "By being simply mad, of course!"

* * *

His Mary Ann had never told him the answer. The hatter put his face in his hands. Maybe if he could figure out the answer, she would know somehow and come back. Then they could go on those walks again, speak of nothing but nonsense, talk to the flowers, hide from the queen, and help the rabbit find his gloves like they always had. "But that's impossible." He muttered to himself.  
Remembering where he was, the Hatter's heart leapt. Impossible? He lived in the impossible. BREATHED the impossible. The mad man saw it from the moment he woke up, and it stuck to him at night and followed him to his dreams. Impossible was

ENTIRELY possible.  
Mad Hatter jumped up, put on his hat, and grabbed his jacket. She would come today, he thought- no, he KNEW. It was today. It had to be. He ran off to meet his mad rabbit friend whom he hadn't seen in much too long. There were preparations to be made today, after all, it was Mary Ann's Unbirthday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~END

DDC: Im sorry if there's any mistakes! Please review, it makes me happy! ^ ^ If I get enough people asking for it, I guess I could try to continue it, but only if a certain number (that I will not say) ask for this.


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